Package for furniture



`lune 26, 1945. J. S K|RBY 2,378,932

PACKAGE FOR FURNITURE Filed Dec. 12, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7 JOHN S. K/RBY INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented June 26, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT "o1-Ficsracxacazrtrzmmruna l John S. Kirby, Indianapolis, Ind., nsllgnor to The ifssmro'inimm mam 'Application December 12, 1941, SerialNo. 422,626

5 Claims.

Y l `Ilfiis invention relates both to a means and a method for packaging furniture, particularly adapted for desks, tables, cabinets and other items4 that have at least one large rigid surface, such advantages of a skid-supported packing without its disadvantages, to very greatly reduce the amount of interior packing required for the furniture inside the outer casing, and to hasten and simplify the packing operation. A further purpose is to use the furniture itself in' such relation to the outer casing as to brace such outer casing and use the strength of the furniture as the strength of the packing. Another purpose is to so relate uazediestl toip, vzlllnch, bri inyt 1invention, canbe `6 tlilkid, thlcasintg) the fuinoiilrefltlllii; the g ve e pac ng e necessary sups oes no ave astened e ure, port and strength. It has long been customary but will serve its purpose by being fastened tothe to pack furniture, particularly desks, tables, cabcasing. inets and the like, with wrapping and padding Afurther advantage of my inventionisthat the such as excelsior, burlap and so on immediately l elimination -of such interior pecking asv large surrounding the furniture, within the outer conquantities of crumpled paper, burlap., excels'ior, tainer, and bracing the outer cover by wood slats and the like removes a fire hazard. The nre oriimilr glemnts were1 tli-riept frLoiEdanhazard of 1iirionvic'nitionalpakilxlxg ieigreanteht a g-eurniue epa ng. er e,--inmanyc esrsreq re tat ,ca velopments have had to do with carrying the l5 tables and similar furniture be unpacked before giigltigftthe furniilge uponteskids o'frarii 'biig stored by the wholesale or dealer.

c urn suppo an 0u rcover ng, s requirement occasions an o e se unlittle or no inner padding, However, such pack-` necessary expense for handling, since large quan. ages have not been entirely satisfactory for the titles of wrapping material have to be disposed of, reason that if the furniture is large or heavy or and the `furniture has' to be protected again in if thei guter cilasing is sulijecteid1 to strains such as some way before being delivered to a customer: in resul rom t e goods be ng 1a in improper posi,- fact has to be entirely repacked ,for out oftown tions or having other articles piled on, the lack retail trade, Furthermore the unpacking results gltmilnrkslupporxorjtltie glitter ovrntgh pernrs 2'6 in the furnitureirthe wa'itolse trequlriiit some g c e no nac w e u temporary pro c on aga us and ture. 0n account of this danger it has not been My invention, therefore, eliminates extra practicable to eliminate the inside wrapping even handling, eliminates fire hazard, and greatly rewhere the weight both of the furniture and of the duces the total amount of packing material teouter cover is entirely carried by skids, and where quired, At the same time it gives a quick and the Outer Casing iS of heavy corrugated board 3 expeditious method of applyingastrong and duror similar material having a considerable amount able packing in which the furniture may not only 0f inherent Strenth be safely shipped but also stored for an indefinite fuit'uullithegaggliulity ivclbcletltigittypsu 0f period aild from which it gered noit be renoveddin e n e 1s pported by skids or frames, the attachment of the ltilggtlgggany e pr or to ac ual e furniture to such skids or frames has presented The specific embodiment of my invention is Stinente fneh Sm Mmmm herewth d smb in ldetail in the followin s ciflcationl it bein example by connections in the caster holes of the understood, however, tha Suzi, drawings and de? tn "fsnuie vvl' mi "aff: tiefef emgdmfg my' td sorts of connectors, and a number `of other exldegothusrt Se su?? nlfmtug gguc pedients have been employed. None of these applied and as to the details of the packing conhave been entirely satisfactory, nor have elimint with t d rt .f th rm i l ated the danger of marring the furniture, nor ruc ggntiou epa 'mg rom e'p c pgs utilized vthe strength of the furniture as a support my i for the outer casing. In the accompanyinA g drawings.

The purpose of my invention, then, is to avoid Fig' 11s a perspective View illustrating tg? m such diiliculties as have been outlined above in stages. application .f my improved pac ng connection with the prior methods, to obtain the a' desk y Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the same, illustrating the final stages of closing the packing;

Figs. 3 to 7 inclusive are diagrammatic vertical sections representing the successive stages of the packing operation by my improved method; and

Fig.8isaneniargeddetailoftheupperleft corner of Fig. 4.

In certain of the drawings, and particularly in the diagrammatic views, 'the various panels and other elements of packing and padding material middleiointinayormaynotalsobetspedas able cleats Il or other arrangement whereby it fits loosely against the exposed feet, so that the feet always bear upon it. This frame Il is made of boards of suitablev width, perhaps three times over it with top and bottom open. The casing is in most features an ordinary type slotted carton, having sides 4. l and ends l. I secured by a boxmakers joint t, inner top laps 1, land outer top half laps 8, 8. and bottom edge laps l. s and I0, I0 which are mere narrow flanges. Either before, but more conveniently after such covering is applied, the top edges of the desk are covered at the corners with a small amount of suitable padding II'. The corner protectors illus-v trated by my co-pending application Serial No. 275,017, upon which Patent 2,271,265 was granted Jan. 27, 1942, are well adapted for thepurpose although I do not limit my present invention to the use of any particular type of corner or edge padding. Such corner pads as mentioned afford an economical and satisfactory protection, giving ample strength' and cushioning effect, with a minimum of material. If considered desirable 'soft wadded or crumpled paper may be used under the corner pads.

By way of further strengthening, a pad I2 may be fastened, preferably by adhesive, to the under 'side of one of the half laps l during the preliminary setting up of the carton. This pad is of substantial size and best applied diagonally so as to give a greater length for adhesion of the other lap 8 along the Junction of the laps. This pad I2 gives a large surface to which the top laps 8 can be fastened by adhesive, as at I8, making a strongly fastened top without staples.

With the desk inverted on the horses and the carton on it, Fig. 3, the inner end laps 1 are now folded down in a manner which constitutes one of the important features of my invention, namely, they are each folded a little outside of midwidth, on a line I3, such fold line being parallel to the hinge line at the tcp of the end 5. 'I'hus two panels I4 and I 5 are formed of each inner lap, the outer, I4 being somewhat narrower than the width of the feet, so as to give ample bearing surface, but is not fastened either to the feet or to any other portion of the furniture. After the frame I8 is placed the bottom flanges are now turned down upon the frame boards and nailed thereto as by large headed nails 2U or otherwise firmly secured. Preferably, to make a stronger package, outside cleats 2| are nailed over the end nanges l, and into the inner cleats Il.allasseeninFigs.5and6. Theboxisnow ready for shipment or for storage as the case may be, but will preferably be handled standing on end, Fig. 7, where the shape of the furniture makes this convenient, as is usually true with a desk or table. Y

The desk top nts snugly inside the side walls of the carton by reason of the corner protectors which have a cushioning effect and give a snug nt, and there is no vertical movement, for the tops or walls. The scope of the invention is set out in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A furniture package comprising a substantially rigid article of furniture a carton having side walls and a lapped top overfltting the top of said article of furniture, inside laps hinged to the top edges of opposed side walls, each having panels on their free ends again hinged parallel to said first hinge line and tucked under that panel which lies between the first and second named hinge the inner, I5, so that I4 underlies I5 and overlies 8. Thus each lap 1 becomes a cushioning lap which bears inwardly uponthe corner protectors vII but is held up by them out of direct contact with the top surface of the furniture, and over which the outer laps 8 are closed and fastened as by adhesive I1. If the inner lap 'I is left flat the edge of such lap, bearing across the top of the table, frequently wears through any protec- -tive inner wrapping, such-as wadded or crumpled paper, and mars the polished surface. Qne advantage of my present invention is the avoidance of possibility of such marring.

.Still referring to Figs. 3 and 4, while the desk is still on the horses the outer half laps l are turned down over the cushioning laps and fastened thereto by the usual adhesive, such as silicate or starch or other adhesive, and at the same time the top half lap which does not carry the diagonal pad I2 is adhered to that pad. .This

lines, thereby constituting a cushion, and laps hinged to the top edges of the other side walls and closed over and secured to the upper exposed faces of said cushioning laps, and a bottom frame engageable with the base portion of the furniture, said frame being carried wholly by the carton and beilrg attached to the bottom edges of said side wa s.

2. A furniture package as set forth in claim l, f

laps, leaving another substantial portion of said panel exposed, and the other of said outer llaps is adhered to said exposed portion of said panel when said top is closed.

4. A furniture package comprising an article of furniture having a substantially rigid top and supporting feet at the bottom thereof, a carton having side walls closely overlying the sides of said article, laps hinged to the top edges of the side walls and secured together in overlapping relation to form the top wall of the carton, pads interposed between the furniture and the top wall at the corners thereof, laps hinged to the lower edges of each side wall, and a frame bearing against the feet of saidarticle of furniture, said frame being attached solely to the carton and comprising cleats attached to said bottom laps and to one another.

5. A furniture package comprising an article of furniture having a substantially rigid top and supporting feet at the bottom thereof, a carton having side walls closely overlying the sides of said article, laps hinged to the top edges of the side walls and secured together in overlapping relation to form the top wall of the carton, the laps attached to two opposed-side walls being beneath the laps of the other side walls and folded back upon themselves to form cushioning strips between the top of the article of furniture and the top walls of the carton, lapshinged to the lower edges of each side wall, and a frame bearing against the feet of said article of furniture, said frame being attached solely to the carton and comprising cleats attached to said bottom laps and to one another.

JOHN S. KIRBY. 

